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Gibbs High School has a new, home-grown leader

During a time of uncertainty, Barry G. Brown takes over at one of Pinellas County’s oldest high schools.
 
Barry Brown, shown when he was principal of John Hopkins Middle School, chats with students between classes. Brown is the new principal at Gibbs High in St. Petersburg.
Barry Brown, shown when he was principal of John Hopkins Middle School, chats with students between classes. Brown is the new principal at Gibbs High in St. Petersburg. [ Times (2011) ]
Published June 11, 2020

ST. PETERSBURG — When Gibbs High School reopens, whatever that looks like, it will have a new principal: Barry G. Brown.

The Pinellas County School Board this week approved Brown’s appointment to replace Reuben Hepburn, who is taking a medical leave.

For Brown, 50, the move follows a long career in the school district, beginning with his first job in 1995 as a social studies teacher at Boca Ciega High. He led two middle schools: John Hopkins in St. Petersburg and, most recently, Oak Grove in Clearwater. He was an assistant principal at St. Petersburg High.

His own childhood in nearby Childs Park, he said, gave him a familiarity with the Gibbs community. His message to students has always been, “If you have grit, the sky is the limit.”

A view of the courtyard at Gibbs High, one of Pinellas County's oldest high schools. Gibbs will start the 2020-21 academic year with a new principal, Barry Brown. [ SHADD, DIRK | Times (2015) ]

For now, Brown said he is reaching out to the staff at Gibbs to help him set priorities.

“I ultimately am trying to maintain that momentum that I believe Principal Hepburn had established,” he said. “And I’ve had opportunities to have a lot of dialogue with teachers, and work with the administrative team.”

Overall, he said, “I think they’re in a good place.”

One of the county’s oldest public schools, Gibbs opened in 1927 for African American students and became desegregated in 1971. Its magnet program, the Pinellas County Center for the Arts, was launched in 1979. It was followed in 1998 by what is now called the Business, Economics, Technology Academy, which prepares students for high-tech jobs.

Brown said he would like to promote other offerings at the school, including its Emergency Medical Technician and early childhood education programs. “I’d like to establish an even better relationship with PTECH,” he said, referring to Pinellas Technical College, a school district program with a campus across 34th Street S from Gibbs.

“There are so many great opportunities for students here,” said Brown, a graduate of Gibbs’ longtime rival, Lakewood High.

Reuben Hepburn, left, leads a pep rally as part of his push to boost school spirit at Gibbs High. He was principal at the school from 2015 to 2020 and will be succeeded by veteran Pinellas administrator Barry Brown. [ SCOTT KEELER | Times (2015) ]

Hepburn had been Gibbs’ principal since January 2015, when he showed up with plans to improve student performance, bolster after-school programs, build the school’s ties to the community and lift school spirit on campus.

The school and Brown are making this transition at a time of dual uncertainties. The COVID-19 pandemic has left school districts scrambling to re-open safely after months of distance learning that challenged many students. The nation is also in a period of soul-searching and widespread calls for racial equality after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. Fifty-nine percent of Gibbs students are African American.

Brown said he is optimistic on both fronts. He applauds the Pinellas district’s response to the COVID-19 crisis and said he believes the experiment in distance learning will serve as a learning experience — not just in the classroom, but in the workplace.

As for racial issues, he said that in Pinellas, “we’ve been having race conversations for the last two years. Almost all of the Pinellas County principals have been required to be equity champions. We’ve been having conversations about race relationships, equity, discipline referrals of African American and white students, what do we need to do holistically, and requiring school counselors to be equity champions."

Brown added, "I think others may be playing catch-up, when this has been at the forefront for us.”